Johannesburg November 08/2018 With further moving forward to continental integration, Ethiopia is capitalizing on having a more integrated region in the Horn of Africa, said President Sahlework Zewde.

President Sahlework, who is attending Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in Johannesburg, South Africa, said that Ethiopia is forging towards regional integration as it understands the power of integration.

“I do not think that any country can go far if it is limited within its borders,” she said, adding that “in fact, this is what Ethiopia is trying to do to have a more regional integration and moving forward to the continental one”.

Noting that there is a lot of transformation happening in the Horn African country with over 100 million, Sahlework said the main reason for this is the presence of “bold and clear visions” that the country has.

“There is a very much targeted and bold vision in moving the country to another level.”

“A lot of institutional arrangements have been made in order to attract private investment both locally and from outside,” in order for Ethiopia to realize the vision of becoming a lower-middle income country by 2025, Sahlework said.

“Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of FDI and that must have been because of the dynamism and the clear vision that it has been articulated,” she said.

Sahlework has briefed that many measures have been taken to attract FDI and make investments successful.

Development of public and private industrial parks throughout the country, establishment of one stop arrangement, tax and duty exemptions, and infrastructure expansion like railways have been underway to improve investors’ participation.

As Ethiopia is home to youth population, the government believes that these would bring employment to its citizens.

Mentioning that about 30 million Ethiopians are currently enrolled in schools, the President said “we believe that this force is an added value to the work that we are doing in attracting investment.”

Articulating “Africa is the continent from which we can do business and with which we can do business,” President Sahlework pointed out that the Africa Investment Forum can change the narrative of Africa.